US and China Make North Korea Pledge

North Korean flag flies on Pyongyang. Photograph by Stephan

The US and China have declared that they will work together to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear programme and to dampen the tension on the Korean peninsular through dialogue.

North Korea has issued increasingly aggressive rhetoric for the past few weeks, including threatening a nuclear attack, and moving one of its mobile missile launch stations and raising its launch ramp. Whilst many believe the recent escalations to be a ploy by the Pyongyang regime to push for aid from the US and others to avoid any military action as the country has done on previous occasions, others fear that the escalation is leading up to a military strike on a nearby US-ally such as South Korea or Japan within North Korea’s missile strike range.

The 15th April marks the 101st birthday of North Korea’s founding leader, and current leader Kim Jony-un’s grandfather Kim Il-sung, and may be the occasion needed for North Korea to attempt to prove its military strength. There has also been a recent Pentagon report in the US that warned Pyongyang could have developed the technology to mount a nuclear warhead on a missile, making any strike notably more worrisome.

China has been a long-time supporter of North Korea, hoping to maintain stability on its borders, however this recent escalation has brought with it disapproval from the previously supportive Chinese government.

The Chinese have issued a statement during US Secretary of State John Kerry’s official visit to the country, where they have said that the nuclear issues is a “shared responsibility of all parties”.

John Kerry later issued a statement saying that the US and China had a “joint commitment to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula in a peaceful manner”